Table concentrator



A. H. STEBBINS TABLE coNoENTaATon Filed May 25, 1922 lSheets-She@'I l /NVENTO/C?. owwt Mdm BVMW? 3c@ ATTQRNEY Aug. 19, 1924.

A. H. STEBBINS TABLE CONCENTRATOR Filed May 25 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 VEA/TOF? BVM. a? se@ TTORNEY Au@ w, 1924. V 1,505,738

A. H. STEBBINS TABLE CONCENTRATOR 4 Sheets-Sher??I 5 Filed May 25, 1922 JAM/ENTO/Q muacm ATTORNEY Patented Aug. i9, i924.

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ALERT E. STEBBHUDF LOS ANGELES, CLHO i 1 TABLE GQNGENTBATOB.

Application filed May 25, 1922. Serial No. 563,564.

To all lwhom t may 'comer/n,.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. STEBBINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and -State of California, have invented an Improvement in Table Concentrators, of-

which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a,

specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to concentrators of the table type for the separation of ores and other materials in accordance with their diderences in specic gravity.

Most metals or values have a higher specificv gravity than the accompanying impurities, and in4 concentrators of the table type, the lighter particles or tailings are commonly separated from the heavier particles or values by delivering the materials to a deck having riiiies thereupon which direct the values toward one side of the deck while the tailings move toward the other side of the deck. Air is commonly passed upwardly through the deck surface to produce a stratification of the materia-ls so that the lighter materials will work upwardly and pass over the top of the rimes while the concentrates will travel along the riiHes, and

- movement may be imparted to the deck to effect travel of the materials along the deck and also to promote classification.

In the operation of the concentration table it is desirable t0 produce a smooth flow of the materials along the riies with a great number of small cross-iiows of the lighter materials over the riiiies, and to this end, one important feature of the present invention, resides in riifles constructed to retard at intervals along their length the ow of materials so that the concentrates will accumulate at points along the riiiies suiiiciently to cause the tailings above the concentrates to flow laterally over the side of the riiiles.

Another feature of the invention resides in novel means for supporting the deck suspended from a supporting frame.

Another feature of the invention resides in novel means for imparting movement to the deck. to cause the materials thereupon to travel along the deck.

Still another feature of the invention ren sides in a feed hopper mounted upon the deck for. angular adjustment to vary the iow ofthe materials from the hopper lo the deck. Other features of the invention and novel combination of parts in addition to the above will be hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one good practical form thereof.

In the drawings: f Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a concentrator table constructed in accordance with the present invention, the deck cover being omitted;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the deck shown in Fig. 1;

.F ig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional viewlthrough the machine of Fig. 1 taken near the material receivingend of the machine; l

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective View of a portion of the deck surface;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal Sectional view through the supportin frame and showing the deck movingv mec anism;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the trough-shaped surface channels of which the deck surface is constructed;

Fig. 7 is a side view of mechanism for imparting movement to the deck, in which different positions of the levers are indicated by dotted lines; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of mechanism for supporting and imparting movement to the deck.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated the operating parts are supported by an elongated frame constructed of side rails 10 secured in spaced relation by uprights 11 and transversely extending bars 12. This frame serves movably to support the car riage 13 and upon the carriage is mounted a deck 14 provided with a cover 15.

The deck 14 may be variously constructed but preferably consists of an enclosed casing the upper surface of which constitutes the deck surface 16 preferably pro- 'vided with apertures 17 for the vpassage of air upwardly through the deck surface. Within the enclosed casing of the deck are provided a plurality of partitions 18 extending longitudinally within the chamber below the deck surface to divide this chamber into di'erent compartments and these partitions serve lalso to support the deck surface.

slopes transversel In the present case thel riies 19 extend diagonally of the deck. from the lower side 20 towards the upper s1de or concentrator wall 21 so that the heavier materials that travel along the riiiies will be directed towards the concentrator wall 21.

The classification of the materials delivv ered to the deck is produced by forcin air upwardly through the apertures 17 o the deck and through vthe materials thereupon so that the lighter particles will be liftedl above the heavier particles, and the classi- Iication is further promoted by imparting a back and forth movement to the deck in a manner to be described. v In the concentration of the materials it is desirable to provide a smooth flow of these materials along the riles with a great number `of crossflows of the lighter materials or tailings over the tops of the riifles so that the li hter materials will flow towards the lower siligle of the deck away from the concentrates at a multiplicity of different points throughout the length of the riiles.

This may be accomplished by constructing the rilies so that the concentrates will accumulate at various points along the riilles so that the tailings will pile up at these points and flow laterall over the top of the rijfles. To thisl end in the present case each riile is given a zigzag construction, as will be apparent from Figs. 1, 2, -4 and 6. As a result of this construction the concentrates will accumulate at the bends 22 of the riies as clearly shown in Fig. 6 wherein the concentrates indicated by ,c are shown piled up nearly to the top of the riiles with the result that the tailings indicated by t as flowing over the concentrates will be lifted above the tops of the riifles that they may flow laterally over the same to promote separation of the tailings from the concentrates at each bend 22 of the riiiles. The concentrate wall 21 preferably is prcvided with the blocks 25 forming the stepped construction shown so that the concentrates traveling along the riies will pile up at the ends of the riiiies against the blocks 25 and iow laterally in the direction in which the table slopes upon other riles for further treatment, and finally when the concentrates reach the end of 'the table they fall into the hopper 26, while other materials termed middlings which do not reach the concentrator wall 21 will be discharged into the hoppers 27 Aand28. The tailings that flow over the riflles towards the lower wall 20,- upon reaching this wall will escape from the deck surface over the inclined board 29 and will fall into thereceptacle 30. v

The air which passes upwardly through the deck surface and the materials thereupon will carry with itconsiderable 'dust and it is therefore desirable to prevent this dust from escaping. This may be accomplished by providing the deck with a cover 15 which may be supported in spaced relation to the deck surface byuprlghts 31.- To prevent du'st from escaping from the tailings as they fall into the receptacle 30 a swinging gate'32 may be' provided above the inclined board 29 and canvas strips 33 and 34 may extend from opposite walls 30 to the deck as shown.

As stated, the deck 14 is preferably supported at a transverse inclination, and in the present case the carriage 13 upon which the deck is mounted consists of longitudinal- I ly extending rails 35 connected by transversely extending rails 36, and the lower face of the deck is secured to one of the longitudinally extending rails 35 by hinges 37 while the deck is supported in different positions of transverse adjustment by the of the receptacle A rods 38 extending through ears 39 adjacent one lateral wall of the-deck, and these rods extend through brackets 40 secured to one of the rails 35 and may be secured to the brackets in different ment by the nuts 41.

The carriage 13 may be variously mounted upon the supporting frame for movement back and forth in a longitudinal direction and in the present case the carriage is suspended from the frame upon the arms 42 so that rocking movement of these arms imparts a back and forth movement to the carriage. In the construction shown, two arms near the material receiving end of the deck are connected by transversely extending shafts'43 and 44 to form a rigid frame and the upper ends of the arms 42 are pivotally secured to the side rails 10 of the frame by stub shafts 45 journalled'in bearings 46 upon the opposite side rails 10. As a result of this construction the frame consisting of the arms 42 and shafts 43 and 44 is supported to swing back and for'thabout the stub shafts 45. The carriage 13 is supported by and secured to the frame just mentioned by bearing blocks 47 secured to the side rails 35 of the carriage, and these bearing blocks embrace the upper shaft 43 as will* be apparent from Fig. 3.

The construction just described serves to support one end of the carriage and deck, and the opposite end may be similarly supported by the arms 48 rigidly connected by positions of adjustatomes the transversely extending shafts 49 and 50 to form the frame which is swingingly secured to the longitudinally extending rails 10 by the stub shafts 51 extending into the bearing blocks 52.

By mounting the carriage 13 as just def scribed so that its weight is supported by the arms 42 and 48 below the points at which these arms are pivotally secured to the side rails 10, a very stable and satisfactory mounting for the carriage is provided. Futhermore, this construction serves to impart an upthrow to the carriage and deck as the arms 42 and 48 areswung in one drection about their pivotal mountings. This upthrow movement is desirable in imparting a travel to the materialsupon the deck surface 16 because if the arms just mentioned are rocked about their pivots in an upward direction and then suddenly stopped, this movement will tend to toss the materials upon the deck surface 16. upwardly from the surface so that they travel more rapidly lengthwise of the deck surface. Furthermore when the arms just mentioned are rocked in the opposite direction towards the position in which the shaft 43 liesdirectly below the stub shafts 45 the materials are forced downwardly to exert an increased pressure upon the deck surface 16 as the rocking arms are brought to rest near the vertical position. and this will tend to prevent the materials` from moving relatively to the deck under the last mentioned movement. As a result of this construction swinging movement of the arms 42 and 48 in an upward direction promotes travel of the materials upon the deck 16 towards the discharge end ofthe deck whereas rocking movement of these arms in the opposite direction prevents any movement of the materials relatively to the deck towards the material receiving end of the deck as the arms are moved towards the vertical position. A

In order to impart a movement to the deck which will cause the materials to travel longitudinally thereon the deck should be moved in one direction with an increasing speed and then brought suddenly to rest and should be moved in the opposite direction with a decreasing speed and brought slowly to rest. Various means may be provided to this end and desirable means for this purpose will now be described.

ln the present case a rockinglever 53 is pivotally mounted upon the shaft 54 supported by upstanding brackets 55, and the upper end of this lever isv provided with a roller 56 which rests against a contact member 57 mounted upon the shafts 43^and 44 of one of the rocking frames that supports the carriage 13. To the lower end of the arm 58 upon the lever 53 is secured a connecting rod 59 which imparts rocking movement to the lever 53. Reciprocatory movement is imparted to the connecting rod 59 by an-eccentric 60 upon the shaft 61 rotated by the pulley 62. The arm 58 preferably is provided with two or more holes 63 near its lower end so that the connecting rod 59 may be secured thereto at different distances from the pivotal lshaft 54 in order that the amount of rocking movement imparted to this lever may be varied.

Theangular disposition of the arms 42 and lever 53 relative to each other and to their pivotal mountings is important, since the amount of movement imparted to the arms 42 by the lever and the relative speed with which the arms may be moved by the lever depend upon the location of the pivotal mountings 45 and 54 and the path of travel of the roller 56 relatively to the contact member 57. The disposition of the arms 42 and lever 53, and the distance through which each moves, will be apparent from Fig. 7 in which these parts are shown in three different positions, indicated as position 1, 2, and 3. In 4this figure the parts are shown in full lines in the positions they occupy when the arms 42 have moved in a clockwise direction to the end of their path of travel in this direction, and this position is designated as position 1. In this same.

figure the position indicated by 3 corresponds to that occupied by the same parts in Fig. 5 and is the position occupied by these parts when the'arms 42 have moved in a contra-clockwise direction to the end of their path of movement in this direction. The position of these parts indicated by 2 in Fig. 7 is'the -position occupiedby the parts when the operating eccentric has rotated through an angle of 90 from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 5. It is imortant to note from Fig. 7 that while the ever 53 travels through substantia-lly equal distances in passing successively from one position to the other, the contact member 57 does notreceive a similar movement. From this figure it will be seen that while the lever 53 continues its movement and passes from position 2 to position 1 an extremely small amount of movement is imparted to the contact member 57 As a result of this operation the arms 42 will be moved in a clockwise direction with a decreasing speed or negative acceleration and will move in a contraeclockwise direction with an increasing speed or positive acceleration. As thelever 53 is rocked in a clockwise direction it is brought abruptly to rest to the carriage and deck is suddenly ar- .1 it moves away from the aXis 45.

rested, so that thematerials upon the deck will be tossed a slight distance longitudinally of the deck. As the arms 42 are moved in the opposite direction, i. e., in a clockwise direction, they will receive negative acceleration from the lever 53 and will be brought slowly to rest in the position shown in the full lines of Fig. 7, with the result that no relative movement between the materials and the deck will occur as the arms 42 terminate their movement in a clockwise direction.

The positive accelerated movement imparted to the arms 42 in one direction and the negative accelerated movement imparted f to these arms in the opposite direction, it

should be noted is due to the` fact that as the roller 56 moves from the position indicated by 1 to that indicated by 3, it.

rocking movement of the lever 53 when they parts reach the position shown in Fig. 5 since it will be apparent from this gure that the connecting-rod 5 9 has received its maximum movement to the left and will be held by the eccentric from moving further in this direction. The lever '53, due to contact of the roller 56 with the member 57 positively rocks the arms 42 in a clockwise direction, and springs 64 having one end connected at 65 to the levers 42 and the other end secured to a cross-beam 66 serve to move the arms 42 in a contra-clockwise direction as the lever 53 moves from the position indicated in 1 of Fig. 7, to that indicated by 37. The rocking movement imparted to the arms 42 preferably is transmitted to the rocking arms 48 by tie-rods 67 which operatively connect these arms, as clearly shown in'Fig. -8, and the distance between the rocking arms may be adjusted due to the threaded engagement of the tierods 67 with thethreaded bolts 68. The springs 69 which are similar to the springs 64 may beY connected to the arms 48 to impart a'rocking movement thereto in a contra-clockwise direction.

From the operating mechanism described, it will be seen that the deck is moved lo the right with respect to Fig. 1 with a positively accelerated upthrow movement and that it is moved to the left with respect to Fig. 1 with a negatively accelerated downwardly swinging movement, and is slowly brought to rest in this direction, with the result that the materials -are caused to move progressively towards the discharge end of the deck, and this travel is produced by a movement which is not sufficiently violent to disturb the stratification of the materials induced by the air passing upwardly therethrough.

It may be desirable to control the rate with which the materials to be treated are delivered to the deck surface and also to control the distance to which these materials may-travel in a direction longitudinally of the deck before they are delivered to the deck surface, and to this end an elongated feed hopper 7 O is provided pivotally mounted upon the upper side of the deck as at 71 and this hopper is supported so that it may 'be adjusted at different inclinations transversely as will be apparent from Fig. 3. In the present case a threaded bolt ,72 extends upwardly from the bracket 7 3carried by the deck surface to support the hopper in different positions of transverse inclination.A As a result of this construction the materials delivered to the pocket-like end 74 of the hopper will flow laterally from the hopper on to the deck surface, and the extent to which the materials will travel along the hopper before leaving it will dependlargely upon the transverse inclination at which the hopper is supported. The travel of the materials valong the hopper will be promoted also by the back'and-.foiftlntllove-v lellit which is imparted to the carriage and The air which i's forced upwardly through `the perforations 17 of the deck surface may be supplied to the chamber below this surface bya fan 75 connected with the forward end of the chamber just mentioned as at 76, and this fan may beoperated by an electric motor 77 preferably secured directly to the fan shaft 78. The shaft 61 upon which the eccentric 60 is secured may conveniently be driven from the fan shaft 78 by a belt passing around the pulleys 62 and 79.

The deck surface 16 preferably is constructed of trough-shaped surface channels 80 arranged side by side and the rifiles 19 are formed by the upwardly7 bent marginal sides of the surface channels as will be apparent from Figs. 4 and 6. The surface channels 80 preferably are bent at'the points 22 to produce the zigzag channels shown,

and these channels may be partly severed at the points 22 to facilitate bending.

The apertures 17 are formed in the bottom of these surface channels and are preferably provided with upwardly inclined lips 81 (Fig. 6). The surface channels 8O may be bent to follow a zig-zag path as will be apparent from Fig. 6 by cutting the surface channels at each bend in a manner that will permit the metal of the channels to be bent.

What is claimed is:

1. A concentrator table comprising, in

tij@

incassa combination, a supporting frame, a deck supported by the frame for movement backV 2. A concentrator table comprising, inv

combination, a supporting frame, a deck .supported by the frame for movement back and forth, and mechanism for imparting movement to the deck to advance materials along the same, including a pair of pivoted levers having spaced fixed pivots and one lever engageable with part carried by the other to actuate it, the levers having their pivots disposed so that the actuating lever moves along said part of the actuated lever away from' the pivot of the latter when moved in one direction and along said part toward its levers pivot when moved in the other direction :tor effecting negative and positive accelerated movements respectively ot the actuated lever.

3. A. concentrator table comprising, in combination, a supporting frame, a deck,

F deck supporting-levers pivotally secured to the frame and having deck carrying means secured thereto, means for imparting movement to the levers and through the leversl to the deck to advance materials along the deck, including a pivoted actuating lever extending from its pivot toward the pivotal anis ot a pair of said levers to actuate the levers, and movable about its pivot away iromsaid pivotal axis when moved in one direction and toward said pivotal anis when moved in the other direction for edecting positive accelerated movement ot the deck when moved one direction and negative accelerated movement of the deck when moved the other direction.

el. A. concentrator table comprising, in combination, a supporting frame, a deck, deck supporting arms pivotally secured to the iframe and having deck carrying means secured thereto, means for imparting movement to the arms and through them to the deck to advance materials along the deck, including a pivoted actuating lever having an actuatin end contacting with a part secured to said arms and operable to travel along said part away from the pivot of the arms as the lever moves in one direction and along said arm toward the pivot of the arms as it moves the opposite direction,

t3. concentrator table comprising, in

combination, a supporting frame, a deck, deck supporting arms pivotally secured to the frame and having deck carrying means secured thereto, and means for imparting accelerated movement to the arms and through them to the deck to advance materials along the deck, including a pivoted actuating lever for exerting'an operating pressure upon said arms and having its pivot disposed relative to the pivot of said arms so that the curved paths in which the arms and lever respectively travel form a constantly increasing angle with each other as the lever moves in one direction and a constantly decreasing angle as the lever moves in the opposite direction.-

6. A concentrator table comprising, in combination a, supporting frame, a deck mounted upon the frame for back and forth movement, and means for shaking thev deck to advance materials along the same, including a pivoted arm connected to the deck, a pivoted actuating lever for exerting operating pressure upon said arm and having its pivot disposed relative to the pivot of said arm so that the curved paths in which the arm .and lever respectively travel form a constantly increasing anglewith each other as the lever moves in one direction and a constantly decreasing angle as the lever moves in the opposite direction.

7. A concentrator table comprising, in combination a supporting frame, a deck mounted upon the frame lfor back and forth movement, and' means for shaking the deck to advance materials along the same, including a pivoted arm operatively connected to the deck and provided with a contact member, a pivoted actuating lever for operating said arm and having an outer end that travels along said contact member, said actuating lever movable about its pivot away from the pivoted axis of the arm when moved in one direction and toward said pivotal axis when moved in the other direction for edecting positive accelerated moveu ment of the deck when moved in one direction and negative accelerated movement of the deck when moved in the opposite direc1 tion.

8. A concentrator table comprising combination, a supporting traine, mounted upon the frame tor back and :tor movement, yielding means for moving the deck in one direction, and means or Aposi-f tively moving the deck in the opposite direca tion, including a pivoted arm 'operatively connected to the deck and provided with a. contact member, a pivoted actuating lever for operating said arm and having outer end that travels along said contact men said actuating lever movable about pir away from the pivotal ams ont the arm when toward 1. i t moved in one direction and u ,fnv-

etal anis when .moved i agirtionto vary-the speed at which the arm is ment to one pair of arms, and a tie rod connecting the lower ends of the longitudinally spaced arms to impart. rocking movement from one arm to the other.

10. A concentrator table comprising, in

combination, a supporting frame, a deck,`

deck supporting arms trunnoned to the frame at points near their upper ends and extending downwardly from the trunnions to rock about the same, deck supporting' means secured to the arms at points below the trunnions, yielding means for rocking the arms in one direction, means for positively rocking the arms in the oppositeA direction, a tie rod connecting the longitudinally spaced arms to impart rocking movement from one arm to the other, and means for adjusting the length of the tie rod.

11. A deck for a concentrator table, comprising, in combination, a deck surface formed of individual apertured surfacechannels arrangedv side by side and extending in lan inclined direction across the deck and having upstanding sides forming riiiies that Wave laterally throughout their length .4 with zigzag effect.

12. A deck for a concentrator table comprising, in combination, a deck surface formed of individual apertured surface channels arranged side by side and extending in an inclined direction across the deck and having upstanding sides formin rifies that surface-channels beingcnt artl in two at spaced points along their en and bent laterally at the cuts to produce zigzag riiiies extending over the deck surface.

14. A deck for a concentrator table having a composite deck surface formed of a multiplicity of individual trough-shaped surfacechannels each consisting of la perforated bottom and spaced upstanding sides, said surface-channels being secured side by side so that their bottomsv form the composite deck surface and the abutting upstanding sides form riflles that are integral with the erforated deck surface, a concentrate wal at one side of the deck and against which the materials are directed by the riies, and the surface-channels being bent at intervals along their length with zigzag effect to produce zigzag riiiies which cause the materials traveling along the riifles to pile up at the bends in the rifiies.

15. A deck for a concentrator table having a composite deck surface vformed of a multiplicity of individual trough-shaped surface-channels each consisting of a pery forated bottom and spaced upstanding sides, the surface-channels being secured side by side so that their bottoms form the composite deck surface and the abutting, upstanding sides vform riiies that are integral with the deck surface, and the surface channels being bent laterally at intervals along their length with zigzag effect to form zigzag ritlies extending over the deck surface.

16.' A concentrator table, comprising in combination, a supporting frame, a material support-ing surface mounted upon the frame for back and forth movement, and means for shaking said surface to advance materials along the same, including a pivoted arm for imparting movement to said surface and pro- =vided with a contact face, a pivoted actuating lever for operating said arm and having 'an outer end that engages and travels along said face, the actuating lever movable about its -pivot away from the pivoted axis of said arm when moved in one direction and towards said pivoted axis when moved in the opposite direction to thereby effect positive Vaccelerated movement of said surface when moved in one directionland negative accelerated movement of the surface when moved in theA opposite direction.

In testimony whereof, I have signed'my :name to this specification.

ALBERT H. STEBBINS. 

